The Tribune Exclusive: ISI, Bangladesh operatives teaming up to revive ULFA camps near Assam border

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in collaboration with operatives in Bangladesh, is working to re-establish training camps of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) near the border areas, signalling an escalation in efforts to destabilise India’s Northeast region. Highly placed sources indicate that the ISI has even met ULFA leader Paresh Baruah, who reportedly travelled to Bangladesh in recent weeks.

Bid to destabilise NorthEast region

Advertisement

• Intel sources reveal ULFA training camps reopened in Bangladesh close to Assam, other northeastern states
• Sources say ISI has even met ULFA leader Paresh Baruah, who reportedly travelled to Bangladesh in recent weeks
• The revival of ULFA camps signals an escalation in efforts to destabilise India's Northeast region

Amid these threats, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma last month expressed hope that Baruah, who is in exile, would not destabilise his home state. During a media interaction in Kokrajhar, Sarma stated, “My personal view is that he wants peace. I keep talking to him and I have no information or idea that he wants to destabilise Assam. He may not come to the negotiating table, but I believe he does not want to disrupt peace in Assam. After all, he is also an Assamese. Who would want to bring bloodshed to their own state?”

However, intelligence sources reveal that several ULFA training camps have been reopened in Bangladesh close to Assam and other northeastern states over the past few months. These camps had been shut down during the Sheikh Hasina’s regime. The revival of these camps coincides with political unrest in Bangladesh, which led to Hasina fleeing the country on August 5, 2024, and the interim Mohammad Yunus-led government taking charge.

The sources further indicate that Baruah, who was reportedly in China and Myanmar earlier, visited target India’s Northeast region. Adding to these concerns, the Bangladesh High Court last month commuted Baruah’s life imprisonment to 14 years in a case under the country’s arms Act. Baruah was sentenced to death in absentia in 2014 for his alleged involvement in smuggling 10 truckloads of weapons to ULFA hideouts in Assam. His name also features on the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) .

Intelligence agencies suspect that Baruah may soon be released, given recent developments in Bangladesh. They fear that his extensive knowledge of the Northeast could be exploited by the ISI to destabilise the region.

These unsettling developments come amid reports by The Tribune, which highlighted intercepted wireless communications in Arabic, Urdu and Bengali from across the Bangladesh border. This has raised concerns about ISI presence in regions bordering West Bengal.